1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to earth-working implements and more particularly to a hand-held, powerdriven hoe for soil cultivation.
2. The Prior Art
Power-driven earth-working implements have long been used in the art of soil cultivation. Typically, these implements comprise fixed rotating working tools mounted to a frame. (See U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,031,018, 4,003,436, and 4,148,363.) While these implements do work the soil, they are often inefficient and limited to only a few applications. The rotary motion of the working tools tends to work the tools deeper into the earth, and the operator must continually push and struggle to maintain a constant progression of the implement. Often, the tools are poorly shaped for efficient soil penetration. Also, the tool blades are generally of fixed length and speed, thus severely limiting the applications of the implement. Since no adjustment for length is provided, if the operator desires to work deeper into the soil, he simply slows his pushing and allows the implement to work itself deeper into the soil. This can be extremely awkward and difficult since the implement will be very difficult to push along at increased depths of soil.
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that what is needed in the art is a power-driven earth working implement that utilizes a more progressive type of motion to work the earth more efficiently with properly shaped tools that can be easily adjusted in length and operated at various speeds to provide a wide range of applications. Such an invention is illustrated and described herein.